Screen Mend:

Screen Repair Patch

Screen Mend: Screen Repair Patch

Screen Mend: The Pitch

In Series 5, Episode 4 of Shark Tank, Lilly, Emma, and Brian Hooks approached the Sharks seeking an investment of $30,000 in exchange for 25% equity in ‘Screen Mend’. The company is based in Bayport, New York.

ScreenMend is a product ‘invented’ by Lilly Hook, 9 year old daughter of Brian Hooks. The ScreenMend is a repair kit designed to ‘patch’ small holes in window screens. It was the Hooks’ belief that other window screen repair kits on the market were simply not good enough. They believed that the adhesive used was terrible. They therefore came up with the idea of using candle wax as the adhesive instead. ScreenMend was born when they realized that the candle wax had held their repair in place for over four years.

The trio announced that by the time of the pitch they had manufactured and sold 750 units. All manufacturing was currently taking place in their garage. They stated that there are four other competitors on the market but that their solution was unique. They have a provisional patent in place but they do not have a utility patent.
The Sharks were intrigued by the margins on the product. The trio stated that each unit costs them $0.84 to manufacture but they were selling the product for $6.99 at retail. They stated that it was likely that these margins would slim down in the future when they introduce slightly better packaging to make the product more attractive in retail stores.

Offers Received:
Mark Cuban: $30,000 in exchange for 25% of the company.

Lori Greiner: $30,000 in exchange for 50% equity in ScreenMend along with the promise that she would help bring the product to retail via national stores as well as on the television.

Screen Mend: Result

Despite Lori Greiner requesting a slightly higher amount of equity in Screen Mend the trio decided to opt for her offer. This was in part down to her experience in both the retail and television sector. The trio believed that it was likely that she would be able to grow the business far quicker than an offer from Mark Cuban would. It was clear throughout the ‘offer stage’ that the only reason as to why Mark was making an offer was to help introduce the two girls to the world of business. Apart from this he was most likely unable to bring anything else to the table.

Screen Mend: Investors

Lori Greiner has helped launch over 400 products with a 90% success rate on new items launched. Lori looks for products that solve a problem, can be sold at a reasonable price and are appealing to the mass market.